Glimpses into God at work in our lives
with Fr. Ron Pogue

July 2015

07/30/2015

Sunday’s Gospel (John 6:24-35) finds Jesus and his disciples in Capernaum. The crowd that he fed with loaves and fishes on the other side of the lake has been searching for him. Their search led them to Capernaum. “Rabbi, when did you come here?” they asked when they found him.

Jesus responded, “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill yesterday. Do not work for the food that perishes. Work for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God has set his seal.”

The Gospel of John repeatedly has Jesus giving a sign only to have his audience struggle to see beyond the sign to the thing signified. Here, he points his listeners beyond the meal of the evening before to the true, life-giving, heavenly Bread. Jesus wanted them to understand that there was more to him than acting as a kind of miraculous commissary, handing out bread to satisfy their physical hunger.

So, then, as if they hadn't had a sign the day before, they ask for a sign. They remind him of their ancestors who got bread from heaven as a sign from Moses in the wilderness. And, Jesus tells them that God has also sent bread from heaven to this generation. Only this time, the bread is different. The bread has a human face - HIS. And, even more, it doesn't perish the way the manna did. They ask him to give them this bread. And he does, telling them, “I am the bread of life.”

In what sense is Jesus is the true bread from heaven? There are several layers of meaning that will unfold as we continue the story from the sixth chapter of John over the next few Sundays. For now, in this particular passage, Jesus seems to be trying to make it clear that he is the life-giving Logos or Word as in the Prologue to this Gospel (“In the beginning was the Word ... “).

This Gospel's theological assumption is that the fundamental human appetite is for a word from God. Jesus, says our writer, not only speaks the word that proceeds from the mouth of God; Jesus is that Word. Jesus is not only the messenger; Jesus is that message. He is the Bread that is more than bread.

Some churches emphasize the irritable side of God and the nasty side of humanity. Our church emphasizes God's closeness and God's bountiful care for humanity. In our Baptism, God promises to be close to us and to care for us. In our pilgrimage as disciples of Jesus, we are going to experience getting lost, confused, scared, tired, angry, and hungry. God never promised us that our Baptism would insulate us from those experiences. But God promises when those things happen to us, God is going to be in the midst of those experiences, not causing them but caring for us and feeding us with the Bread of Life.

In Jesus, the messenger and the message are rolled into one loaf. Whoever lives in a relationship with him is baked into that same loaf and will find that the deepest hungers of their lives will be satisfied. Life comes with the message, the Living Bread, as a gift from God.

07/10/2015

The Epistle for this Sunday is Ephesians 1:3-14. In it, the author describes how richly God has loved us, blessed us, and filled us with hope. In response to God’s bountiful love, our chief purpose is to live for God’s glory.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.

This passage is perfect for this community of faith for this weekend. We will gather on Saturday for the Ordination of Trent Moore to the Sacred Order of Priests. On Sunday, we will gather again for Baptisms, Confirmations, and the Renewal of Baptismal Vows. Several will be received into the household of faith by grace and adoption in Baptism. Others will make their public declaration of faith. One will be made a Priest in Christ’s holy catholic Church. In each case, the laying on of hands by Bishop Smylie, in the tradition of the Apostles, will signify the presence and power of the Holy Spirit at work among us. Those who are presented to him for these sacramental rites, like us, are “marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.” They are beneficiaries of the same generous inheritance we have received. And they are being called in new ways to glorify God in the living of their lives, as are we.

So, as you prepare to participate in these events in this mission field of Christ’s Church, I invite you to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest this brief but powerful passage of scripture as if it were written directly to you. I invite you to pray for our Bishop, clergy, those being Baptized, those receiving the laying on of hands, and for Trent Moore, who will be made a Priest. And, I invite you to pray for our guests who have traveled far to be with us. May our life together be strengthened and bring greater glory to God.

07/02/2015

Gay and I were in Bondurant on Sunday for worship and the annual barbecue at the Chapel of St. Hubert the Hunter. In the service of worship, at which I presided and preached, and in the crowd at the barbeque, I was conscious that I was there on a mission from God. I didn’t just happen by or show up. I was sent there on a mission and equipped by God with “good news” of the kingdom of heaven for all sorts and conditions of people. In the midst of that mission to others, I experienced God’s reign myself.

Seated at one end of our table were two young men from Israel. They were driving along, saw the sign, and turned in to enjoy some genuine western barbecue beside an Episcopal Church. They asked about lodging and things to see on their way to Yellowstone. We took delight in suggesting things we’ve seen and done during our brief time here. We have been welcomed in their land when we traveled there; here was an opportunity to extend hospitality to them as they traveled through ours. When they started to leave, we wished each other “Shalom.” In the exchange of that ancient word of peace, our eyes met. We understood one another in some new way. Strangers became friends as our kinship with our Creator was acknowledged. I experienced God’s reign on earth, transcending time and space and even barbecue.

At the other end of the table was a couple from a neighboring state. They have been riding their motorcycles to Bondurant for years to participate in this annual event. After a short conversation, one of them raised the subject of the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. Gay gently expressed our approval of the decision and what it means for so many people whom we cherish. Silence. Then, they talked about what it means for them, their daughter and her partner. Our eyes met. We understood one another in some new way. Strangers became friends as our kinship with our Creator was acknowledged. I experienced God’s reign on earth, transcending time and space and even barbecue.

On my way to the car, a member of the band that played for both the service of worship and the barbecue approached me. She thanked me for the service and told me that although she was Baptized at an early age, this was the first time she’d ever received Holy Communion. She said that her decision to come forward on this occasion was made when she heard me say, “Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and wherever you may be on your journey of faith, you are welcome to share in this banquet.” In that moment in time, in that particular location, she knew that she is included in God’s love and hospitality. Our eyes met. We understood one another in some new way. Strangers became friends as our kinship with our Creator was acknowledged. I experienced God’s reign on earth, transcending time and space and even barbecue.

Our recent readings from Mark’s Gospel concern Jesus during his Galilean ministry, crossing back and forth between Jewish and Gentile territories. God’s reign became evident in the encounters between Jesus and the people to whom he was sent. You and I are called to recognize the signs of God’s reign when we see them in our encounters with others. Even more, we are privileged to be heralds of God’s reign wherever we may be to help others recognize God’s reign for themselves.

Father Ron

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